evy96
2022
Donut Dodo is one of those indie games that doesn't come along very often as most people seem to only care about metroidvanias, sims, roguelites or weird frankenstein projects that mash genres together with (oftentimes) little success. It's a true throwback that, quite specifically, apes the style of the original Donkey Kong with hints of Donkey Kong Jr and a dash of Popeye.
Taking place across five boards (that loop once at an increased difficulty), your job as Billy Baker is to snatch up all of the donuts scattered throughout the stage before collecting a massive one to end the stage. All you can really do is run and jump, which is par for the course of an early 80's arcade game character. Fortunately, unlike Donkey Kong, you won't fall to your death if you drop more than a pube-hair's length. You also don't have that incredibly clunky comitted jump arc from games like the aforementioned or Castlevania, but in exchange, you're locked in when climbing ladders or horizontally aligned ropes.
The titular Donut Dodo will be assaulting you with his own feces, fiery projectiles and boulders depending on the board. In addition, there's mice and possesed toilets (yes, you heard right) as well as Not-Clyde-From-Pacman on higher difficulties. Interestingly, there's no power-ups to grab. You do, however, get a rather tricky bonus round in between loops that will reward you handsomely with points and 1-ups once you get the hang of it.
That bonus round isn't the only nuance to scoring (heheheh) in Donut Dodo though. Upon grabbing your first donut in each board, a chain will start. So long as you continue to grab the donuts that are flashing in order, the pickup bonus will be multiplied. It may be tempting to just pick them up all willy-nilly and cash in a higher time bonus, but you're rewarded more for collecting them in order at the end of the day. My only gripe with this mechanic is that the donut order is completely RNG based. The routing may be entirely different, even if you shoot for the same starting donut every time.
Aesthetically, Donut Dodo nails it and that's perhaps the biggest surprise given the five dollar price point. While the chiptune music is admittedly a bit too awesome to pass for something that would have came out in 1983, the spritework is convincing enough to make anyone believe this was some scrapped prototype that never made it off the cutting room floor in that era. Much like Galacticon, which was also recently ported to Switch, it sets out to capture a specific era with none of it looking or sounding cheap.
If there's one thing I think Donut Dodo is lacking in, it's an endless arcade mode that loops infinitely. Instead, you'll either play two loops on "Easy-Normal" or "Normal-Hard" and once you clear the fifth board the second time around on either setting, the game's over. Due to its incredibly high difficulty (even on normal) as well as the fact that the game factors in your remaining 1ups in the final score, there's still plenty of room for improvement and replayability though. Unfortuantely for the Switch port, there's no online leaderboards. A very strange omission considering the original Steam version has had them for a while alongside a weekly one-loop score chase mode.
Despite the lack of online leaderboards (Switch specific) and no true "arcade" mode, this game is fully worth its asking price and then some. I have gotten far more enjoyment out of $5 title than I ever did with the Metroidvania/Roguelike/Farming Sim-Of-The-Week on the Eshop, and I think that speaks volumes to its quality.
Taking place across five boards (that loop once at an increased difficulty), your job as Billy Baker is to snatch up all of the donuts scattered throughout the stage before collecting a massive one to end the stage. All you can really do is run and jump, which is par for the course of an early 80's arcade game character. Fortunately, unlike Donkey Kong, you won't fall to your death if you drop more than a pube-hair's length. You also don't have that incredibly clunky comitted jump arc from games like the aforementioned or Castlevania, but in exchange, you're locked in when climbing ladders or horizontally aligned ropes.
The titular Donut Dodo will be assaulting you with his own feces, fiery projectiles and boulders depending on the board. In addition, there's mice and possesed toilets (yes, you heard right) as well as Not-Clyde-From-Pacman on higher difficulties. Interestingly, there's no power-ups to grab. You do, however, get a rather tricky bonus round in between loops that will reward you handsomely with points and 1-ups once you get the hang of it.
That bonus round isn't the only nuance to scoring (heheheh) in Donut Dodo though. Upon grabbing your first donut in each board, a chain will start. So long as you continue to grab the donuts that are flashing in order, the pickup bonus will be multiplied. It may be tempting to just pick them up all willy-nilly and cash in a higher time bonus, but you're rewarded more for collecting them in order at the end of the day. My only gripe with this mechanic is that the donut order is completely RNG based. The routing may be entirely different, even if you shoot for the same starting donut every time.
Aesthetically, Donut Dodo nails it and that's perhaps the biggest surprise given the five dollar price point. While the chiptune music is admittedly a bit too awesome to pass for something that would have came out in 1983, the spritework is convincing enough to make anyone believe this was some scrapped prototype that never made it off the cutting room floor in that era. Much like Galacticon, which was also recently ported to Switch, it sets out to capture a specific era with none of it looking or sounding cheap.
If there's one thing I think Donut Dodo is lacking in, it's an endless arcade mode that loops infinitely. Instead, you'll either play two loops on "Easy-Normal" or "Normal-Hard" and once you clear the fifth board the second time around on either setting, the game's over. Due to its incredibly high difficulty (even on normal) as well as the fact that the game factors in your remaining 1ups in the final score, there's still plenty of room for improvement and replayability though. Unfortuantely for the Switch port, there's no online leaderboards. A very strange omission considering the original Steam version has had them for a while alongside a weekly one-loop score chase mode.
Despite the lack of online leaderboards (Switch specific) and no true "arcade" mode, this game is fully worth its asking price and then some. I have gotten far more enjoyment out of $5 title than I ever did with the Metroidvania/Roguelike/Farming Sim-Of-The-Week on the Eshop, and I think that speaks volumes to its quality.
Maybe the best PS2 platformer that doesn't star a lombax or raccoon.
I always felt the original Maximo was a good game held back by a camera fit for one console generation prior (to be fair, it started development in the N64 days) and mildly annoying combat.
Army of Zin fixes both the wonky combat and camera, and not only this, it has a normal save system. Personally, I didn't find the "pay to save" system to be that much of a problem since the original rewards exploration, but I can see why others would want something more natural.
Level design is still mostly linear and there's plenty of hidden chests and whatnot to find, but there's a bit more emphasis on the "action" in this action platformer this time around. Normally, games like this during this era tend to fuck the combat side of things up big time (Pac Man World 3 anyone?) but Army of Zin does enough right to get the job done. It never felt like I was just hammering buttons to delete enemies (except for maybe the very last stage) and i felt encouraged to swap up weapons depending on the situation.
My only real gripe comes with hard mode, and it's not really so much of a gripe as it is a nitpick. I felt like it really didn't change things enough- enemies just take more hits and NPCs die a little faster. In some ways, it actually makes the game easier as there's more coinage and you're able to get a hold of more powerful upgrades sooner. I was hoping enemies/bosses had different attacks or alterations would be made to the levels to incorporate trickier platforming, but oh well. It's literally grasping for straws at this point and it's not like you have to play on this mode to have a blast.
I always felt the original Maximo was a good game held back by a camera fit for one console generation prior (to be fair, it started development in the N64 days) and mildly annoying combat.
Army of Zin fixes both the wonky combat and camera, and not only this, it has a normal save system. Personally, I didn't find the "pay to save" system to be that much of a problem since the original rewards exploration, but I can see why others would want something more natural.
Level design is still mostly linear and there's plenty of hidden chests and whatnot to find, but there's a bit more emphasis on the "action" in this action platformer this time around. Normally, games like this during this era tend to fuck the combat side of things up big time (Pac Man World 3 anyone?) but Army of Zin does enough right to get the job done. It never felt like I was just hammering buttons to delete enemies (except for maybe the very last stage) and i felt encouraged to swap up weapons depending on the situation.
My only real gripe comes with hard mode, and it's not really so much of a gripe as it is a nitpick. I felt like it really didn't change things enough- enemies just take more hits and NPCs die a little faster. In some ways, it actually makes the game easier as there's more coinage and you're able to get a hold of more powerful upgrades sooner. I was hoping enemies/bosses had different attacks or alterations would be made to the levels to incorporate trickier platforming, but oh well. It's literally grasping for straws at this point and it's not like you have to play on this mode to have a blast.
1993
As far as licensed games go, this might be one of the best on the Genesis. This plays very similarly to the NES Flintstones games (also made by Taito), but is considerably more forgiving. There's a lot of variety in the (admittedly) low number of stages- you could be whacking snakes and using them as platforms in one moment and be driving the Flintstones "car" across the desert in the next. I do think the fact that you respawn immediately Turrican style during all of the bosses (except the final one) makes the game a bit too easy, though.
1991
Levels are overly long and not very interesting. Patterns and setups repeat so much that I found myself getting bored, and to add insult to injury, getting a game over kicks you back to the beginning of the stage.
The music is quirky but enjoyable and the bosses remind me of Contra, which is nice, but all in all this is pretty bad compared to something like TF III. I'm not sure why it makes top 10s as far as Genesis shmups are concerned.
The music is quirky but enjoyable and the bosses remind me of Contra, which is nice, but all in all this is pretty bad compared to something like TF III. I'm not sure why it makes top 10s as far as Genesis shmups are concerned.
1993
This is a fairly decent eurostyle (as in big, open levels and wall hugging to find secrets) action platformer that is aesthetically similar to games like Golden Axe and Rastan. The music is pure Genesis twang, although the sound effects are on the "meh" side of things.
My main gripes come with the last couple of levels. Stage 7 is a winding maze, which I always found annoying, and stage 8 drags on and on without much of what made the first half enjoyable.
The other thing I didn't care for is how the armor upgrade had to be purchased in the shop rather than found in the game itself. It essentially makes you quite OP (at least as the Huntress) and you'll no doubt have enough money for it as soon as it becomes available in the shop post stage 3. It would have been fair more rewarding to have to work for it, and it would have made the game a bit more challenging. (As it stands, it was shockingly easy and I cleared it my first time sitting down with it)
Still, I don't regret playing it through having exhausted the Genesis' library of similar games. A solid 6 or 7- fun while it lasted but I don't see myself replaying any time soon.
My main gripes come with the last couple of levels. Stage 7 is a winding maze, which I always found annoying, and stage 8 drags on and on without much of what made the first half enjoyable.
The other thing I didn't care for is how the armor upgrade had to be purchased in the shop rather than found in the game itself. It essentially makes you quite OP (at least as the Huntress) and you'll no doubt have enough money for it as soon as it becomes available in the shop post stage 3. It would have been fair more rewarding to have to work for it, and it would have made the game a bit more challenging. (As it stands, it was shockingly easy and I cleared it my first time sitting down with it)
Still, I don't regret playing it through having exhausted the Genesis' library of similar games. A solid 6 or 7- fun while it lasted but I don't see myself replaying any time soon.
1989
This would've been a great game if it wasn't so horribly balanced. Got the red item fully powered up? Spam the button and everything goes away effortlessly. Get clipped more than halfway through the game? Prepare to continue feed. It would be fine if you simply lost your power ups upon death, but Fire Shark commits the sin of having to up your speed gradius style. Did I mention these power ups actively avoid you and bounce towards the top of the screen to assure you'll probably die trying to snag it?
Most of these issues weren't a big deal in stages 1 to 5, but beyond that, its pretty much impossible to play the game properly if you die at all. I'm not sure how anyone would do it without simply bomb spamming from checkpoint to checkpoint.
Definitely won't be playing again after beating it on this games idea of "normal". There are just far too many other great games on the console.
Most of these issues weren't a big deal in stages 1 to 5, but beyond that, its pretty much impossible to play the game properly if you die at all. I'm not sure how anyone would do it without simply bomb spamming from checkpoint to checkpoint.
Definitely won't be playing again after beating it on this games idea of "normal". There are just far too many other great games on the console.
1998
I'm really surprised that people didn't seem to like this one. It runs off the same engine as Gex (which I'm a big fan of) and is more or less a dark/edgy 3D platformer before that trend took over on the PS2. Perhaps a little too easy, but I still had a lot of fun giving it a once over.
1988
It's far from the best of what the Pc Engine could offer, but I still had a great deal of fun 1CCing it thanks to that quirky (and distinctly Namco) flair. It plays similarly to Thunder Force 3, but borrows the item shop from Fantasy Zone and also has a gambling system for additional powerups. Most of the time, you'll just be stuck with the standard (but serviceable) pea shooter as all of the aforementioned powerups are on a timer. Some of them are ridiculously overpowered and will allow you to speed kill bosses (referring to the missiles) and some of them are absolutely useless (avoid stock bomber like the plague).
Difficulty is surprisingly moderate in comparison to most shmups, which are blisteringly difficult in many cases, although Stage 7 is pretty obnoxious and clearly designed to eat up lives like tic tacs without prior knowledge of how the environmental hazards work.
As far as Namco shmups in general go, I enjoyed this one a little more than Dragon Spirit but not nearly as much as Phelios.
Here is my 1cc of the game for those interested- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqUbTFtVnYk&t=1440s
Difficulty is surprisingly moderate in comparison to most shmups, which are blisteringly difficult in many cases, although Stage 7 is pretty obnoxious and clearly designed to eat up lives like tic tacs without prior knowledge of how the environmental hazards work.
As far as Namco shmups in general go, I enjoyed this one a little more than Dragon Spirit but not nearly as much as Phelios.
Here is my 1cc of the game for those interested- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqUbTFtVnYk&t=1440s
2023
A great neo-retro arcade experience that, like Galacticon and Donut Dodo, is fully worth the five dollar asking price. This one takes after Burger Time and although it demands a 1CC out the gate, Normal Mode is forgiving enough with extends that almost anyone should be able to do it. Really hope this one will see ports to consoles.
1988
I actually completed this on the NES/Famicom, but there appears to be no option for it here.
The Famicom port is a simple, breezy cute 'em up that non hardcore shmup players can appreciate. It does use a Gradius style checkpoint system (yuck) but the game doesn't really suffer from Gradius syndome even towards the very end. It's very easy to become overpowered and just wreck everything before it even has a chance to fire, and there's even a "PP" (insert beavis and butthead laugh here) icon that will allow you to save all of your hard-earned powerups upon death, although normally you lose everything just like that highly overrated Konami space shooter.
The bosses, while having simple patterns, are probably the highlight of the game. They're big, cartoony and all based around various insects such as spiders and moths. Upon beating them, you'll see them all bruised up and waving a white flag and this is honestly pretty charming.
Besides being insanely short (like sub 20 minutes if you know what you're doing), the only other major flaw this game has is its soundtrack. As much as I don't like Gradius, one thing I'll give it credit for is having amazing music. Sadly, what's here is only marginally better than the garbage you'd find in Action52.
As for the Genesis version, I didn't beat it but found it to play worse than the Famicom version despite appearing to be just an edgier reskin.
The Famicom port is a simple, breezy cute 'em up that non hardcore shmup players can appreciate. It does use a Gradius style checkpoint system (yuck) but the game doesn't really suffer from Gradius syndome even towards the very end. It's very easy to become overpowered and just wreck everything before it even has a chance to fire, and there's even a "PP" (insert beavis and butthead laugh here) icon that will allow you to save all of your hard-earned powerups upon death, although normally you lose everything just like that highly overrated Konami space shooter.
The bosses, while having simple patterns, are probably the highlight of the game. They're big, cartoony and all based around various insects such as spiders and moths. Upon beating them, you'll see them all bruised up and waving a white flag and this is honestly pretty charming.
Besides being insanely short (like sub 20 minutes if you know what you're doing), the only other major flaw this game has is its soundtrack. As much as I don't like Gradius, one thing I'll give it credit for is having amazing music. Sadly, what's here is only marginally better than the garbage you'd find in Action52.
As for the Genesis version, I didn't beat it but found it to play worse than the Famicom version despite appearing to be just an edgier reskin.
2010
I did not get the appeal of this game when it came out, and I do not get the appeal of it now(or the many clones it inspired such as Celeste, which I actually finished without the assist stuff...but that's another review for another time).
Remember I Want To Be The Guy? This is literally that same game with a somewhat bigger budget and you have to pay for it. The design philosophy here is that lives and continues are no longer part of the equation, but in exchange for that, every screen will demand you attempt it dozens upon dozens of times until you do something slightly different and squeak on through.
There are plenty of "hard" games I enjoy. Ghouls n Ghosts, Comix Zone, Alex Kidd...but at least in those games you're not robbed of your senses by making you look at the same screen over and over again. You'll actually get somewhere before you hit a wall.
Not to mention, those games are far easier on the eyes. Super Meat Boy was among the first of the "low effort pixel art" games crapped out onto the market, and I think it may have even started the trend. I absolutely love indie games that get the aesthetic right (Freedom Planet, Sonic Mania, anything made by LocoMalito, Donut Dodo) but this ain't it. It's that "haha so retro" MSPaint breed of crap.
I definitely wish I could see why this game won awards or why it's so beloved. I've tried to get into it time and time again, and I just can't.
Remember I Want To Be The Guy? This is literally that same game with a somewhat bigger budget and you have to pay for it. The design philosophy here is that lives and continues are no longer part of the equation, but in exchange for that, every screen will demand you attempt it dozens upon dozens of times until you do something slightly different and squeak on through.
There are plenty of "hard" games I enjoy. Ghouls n Ghosts, Comix Zone, Alex Kidd...but at least in those games you're not robbed of your senses by making you look at the same screen over and over again. You'll actually get somewhere before you hit a wall.
Not to mention, those games are far easier on the eyes. Super Meat Boy was among the first of the "low effort pixel art" games crapped out onto the market, and I think it may have even started the trend. I absolutely love indie games that get the aesthetic right (Freedom Planet, Sonic Mania, anything made by LocoMalito, Donut Dodo) but this ain't it. It's that "haha so retro" MSPaint breed of crap.
I definitely wish I could see why this game won awards or why it's so beloved. I've tried to get into it time and time again, and I just can't.
Most ROM hacks aren't very good, but this one was fun enough to do multiple playthroughs of after exhausting the legitimate classic Sonic games.
I highly, highly recommend that you keep the Megamix abilities on (they are by default). The levels were clearly designed around being able to zip around lines of rings via the light dash, and that was especially apparent in the rather excellent opening zones.
Where Megamix falls flat is the level design of the later zones. This game's take on the water trope is absolutely atrocious and a big reason to make sure you get all the emeralds before slogging through it. There is also a metric fuck ton of slow down here, and I don't know if that was intentional (for "water level bad/too slow" meme) or because this is actually unfinished/vaporware but it sure does make you wonder where the blast processing went. Fortunately, the take on Starlight following redeems things a bit and almost feels like a reward for dealing with the last zone with how fast you can go without too much effort.
Although you can beat the game in its current state, it is (like many sonic projects) unfinished and does have bugs. *I highly advise save stating at the start of Not-Starlight as this is where I encountered the most crashes. There is also one special stage where it is incredibly easy to get softlocked.
I highly, highly recommend that you keep the Megamix abilities on (they are by default). The levels were clearly designed around being able to zip around lines of rings via the light dash, and that was especially apparent in the rather excellent opening zones.
Where Megamix falls flat is the level design of the later zones. This game's take on the water trope is absolutely atrocious and a big reason to make sure you get all the emeralds before slogging through it. There is also a metric fuck ton of slow down here, and I don't know if that was intentional (for "water level bad/too slow" meme) or because this is actually unfinished/vaporware but it sure does make you wonder where the blast processing went. Fortunately, the take on Starlight following redeems things a bit and almost feels like a reward for dealing with the last zone with how fast you can go without too much effort.
Although you can beat the game in its current state, it is (like many sonic projects) unfinished and does have bugs. *I highly advise save stating at the start of Not-Starlight as this is where I encountered the most crashes. There is also one special stage where it is incredibly easy to get softlocked.
1990
Not a bad early shooter on the system. Graphically, it didn't blow me away but it got the job done and the very first stage leaves a great impression with all the swaying fire in the background. I can also appreciate how this game doesn't commit the shmup design sin of having speed-ups as a pickup- either ship (which can be selected in the options- Tiat/blue starts off with a bit more than just the pea shooter) has a base speed that will never change.
The way bombing works in this one is also pretty interesting. Every so often, you'll find a drone whose hatch opens and closes periodically. You need to fire at it when it's open to wipe the entire screen- this thing even shows up during some boss fights. I don't think I've seen this done in any other game of this type.
There's also an attempt at nonlinearity as the game gives you multiple paths to take to the end. The annoying thing about this (and I suppose darius in general) is that you really won't know whether you picked an easier or harder course until you try them all. Personally, I found ABEINSX to be the best route when 1CCing.
Like many other shmups that came from an arcade background, Sagaia is also super unbalanced. When you have a full deck of power ups, you will be nuking everything in your path before it even has a chance to fire. Get hit once without a shield and, if you're the red/default ship, you're back to the peashooter upon respawn. This, of course, leads to chain deaths depending on where you die at as it'll be almost impossible to kill anything. It isn't nearly as awful as it is in Gradius, but still means that this had a harsh learning curve as a casual shmup player.
Overall, I still had a fun time getting the clear on this game once I discovered the best route.
The way bombing works in this one is also pretty interesting. Every so often, you'll find a drone whose hatch opens and closes periodically. You need to fire at it when it's open to wipe the entire screen- this thing even shows up during some boss fights. I don't think I've seen this done in any other game of this type.
There's also an attempt at nonlinearity as the game gives you multiple paths to take to the end. The annoying thing about this (and I suppose darius in general) is that you really won't know whether you picked an easier or harder course until you try them all. Personally, I found ABEINSX to be the best route when 1CCing.
Like many other shmups that came from an arcade background, Sagaia is also super unbalanced. When you have a full deck of power ups, you will be nuking everything in your path before it even has a chance to fire. Get hit once without a shield and, if you're the red/default ship, you're back to the peashooter upon respawn. This, of course, leads to chain deaths depending on where you die at as it'll be almost impossible to kill anything. It isn't nearly as awful as it is in Gradius, but still means that this had a harsh learning curve as a casual shmup player.
Overall, I still had a fun time getting the clear on this game once I discovered the best route.
This has become my ultimate "comfort game" for the last couple months working the night shift after dumping a lot of time into the NES demake. The leaderboards on Steam are unfortunately broken, but it is still immensely satisfying to score chase in most mazes.
All in all, this is just an alright 2.5 shm'up that would've been way better if the devs could stick to just one angle or even just plain ol' 2D. As one other reviewer mentioned, the camera likes to be a PITA and depth perception can be difficult when the game decides to shift gears and shout "hey look it's kinda in 3D!". In addition, the hit detection felt janky when it came to explosive projectiles. Sometimes the outer edges of a blast radius would hurt, and sometimes it wouldn't.
There's still some fun to be had despite these issues though. Mecha Therion is far from a traditional shmup and offers secrets to find on top of an assload of weapons that you can upgrade at each checkpoint. I can appreciate that this is trying to do something different as the market is absolutely flooded with bullet-hells catering only to the most hardcore of shooter fans. You know...the ones who say "shm'up" in person.
Lords of Thunder is still the best heavy metal infused shoot 'em up around, but it was a nice attempt. I'd recommend waiting for a sale if this is your thing.
There's still some fun to be had despite these issues though. Mecha Therion is far from a traditional shmup and offers secrets to find on top of an assload of weapons that you can upgrade at each checkpoint. I can appreciate that this is trying to do something different as the market is absolutely flooded with bullet-hells catering only to the most hardcore of shooter fans. You know...the ones who say "shm'up" in person.
Lords of Thunder is still the best heavy metal infused shoot 'em up around, but it was a nice attempt. I'd recommend waiting for a sale if this is your thing.